


Fic Prompts: Sleepwalking and Prank Wars

by bluestar



Series: Ficlets! [4]
Category: Pacific Rim
Genre: Gen, not everything is deadly serious, sometimes there's inexcusable immaturity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-21
Updated: 2013-09-21
Packaged: 2017-12-27 04:37:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/974421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluestar/pseuds/bluestar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For a tumblr-friend! Newt what did you set on fire and and was there actually a good reason for it, and Raleigh you have /no idea what you've started/.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fic Prompts: Sleepwalking and Prank Wars

1.

Newt had always been a pretty busy sleeper. Talking, shifting around, sometimes falling off the bed completely. The sleepwalking was fairly new, however. It hadn’t been much of an issue at first; wandering his room and waking up on the floor or in corners, and that one time under the bed- Gottlieb had found that one pretty funny, actually - but then his unconscious self had figured out how to open doors. Nights were adventures in Where Will Newt End Up Next, and Gottlieb was considering either installing child-locks on all the doors or simply putting a bell on Newt like a cat so he could follow and guide him gently back to bed.

The latest escapade had happened at two in the morning, with Newt leaving the barracks and ending up all the way on the Jaeger bay floor. People were used enough to his assorted oddities that they didn’t question why he was wandering in a band t-shirt and boxer underwear without supervision, and the maintenance workers had been kind enough to shoo him away from heavy machinery before he could injure himself. When he woke up at eight o’clock in the morning, it was to Mako very gently shaking his shoulder and murmuring his name.

"…oh. Hi, Mako."

"Good morning, Doctor Geiszler."

Newt looked up and around, stiff and cold from laying curled on his side on the cement floor. He sighed as Mako took his hand and helped him up, and he scowled at the grease stains on his pajamas.

"Please tell me no one took pictures. The ones from that time in the kitchen are embarrassing."

Mako patted his shoulder consolingly, smiling.

"I doubt it. You didn’t set anything on fire this time, so no one was very interested in capturing the moment."

Newt snorted.

"Well. Thank God for small mercies."

 

 

2.

 

"Raleigh, I’m surprised at you."

Gottlieb’s disapproval only made Raleigh grin wider, and he ducked his head down to hide it.

"Look, Doctor, you haven’t known how sweet revenge is ‘til you get back at someone pranking you," he said. "And that sonnuvabitch trapped me in an apple pie bed yesterday. He deserves this."

Gottlieb stared at him, puzzled.

"Apple pie…I’m sorry, what?"

"It’s when you fold the sheets a certain way so a person can get in a bed, but they’re stuck when they try to get out. Like folding a crust over an apple pie, get it?"

"Vaguely…"

The objective was simple enough. Switch out Tendo’s coffee for the salt-spiked mug, stand back and watch the results. Gottlieb had agreed to be the distraction only after much begging from Raleigh; he was the perfect straight man. No one would suspect a thing.

"This is positively primeval."

"Nah. Not like it’s gonna hurt him or anything. Alright, alright, you ready?"

They peered into the LOCCENT. Tendo was at his console as always, busy at work.

"You owe me for this," Gottlieb muttered. Raleigh grinned.

"Oh, I know. Go on, get ‘im!"

Gottlieb sighed heavily.

"Mister Choi! A moment?"

Tendo turned at once, distracted. Raleigh ducked out of sight until he knew Tendo wouldn’t notice him, edging towards the console and swapping out the mugs and quickly backing off before he could be spotted, hiding behind a knot of LOCCENT techs. He gestured to Gottlieb, giving the all-clear.

"So if you could print out those complaint forms, I’d truly appreciate it," Gottlieb said.

"Sure, no problem. I thought you were done lodging complaints about Newt, though."

"He still enjoys the novelty," Gottlieb said dryly. "He made a copy of my first formal complaint and framed it, actually. He knows how it needles me."

Tendo laughed and waved Gottlieb off, turning back to his desk. Raleigh bit at his knuckles, resisting the urge to laugh spitefully as Tendo picked up the mug and took a long drink, waiting for the inevitable spitting, choking and coughing.

His heart sank and he realized his mistake as Tendo turned to look straight at him, finishing the coffee in a long gulp.

"Raleigh," he said calmly, though his voice was strained. "This is officially  _war.”_


End file.
